Kim Hye-su Movies

Two bored South Korean housewives seeking a bit of extramarital excitement via the internet find that their clandestine dalliances have more dire repercussions than they ever anticipated in this cautionary marriage drama from director Jang Moon-Il. Trolling internet chat-rooms under the monikers "Dewdrop" and "Tweetie," the unsatisfied women soon find their forbidden fantasies becoming a reality when "Tweetie" befriends a salacious salesman named Fox and "Dewdrop" seeks revenge on her cheating husband by arranging a rendezvous with a virginal, and much younger college student. But adultery is against the law in South Korea, and upon meeting their lovers in a nearby hotel the women are shocked when the police raid the room and once of the officers is revealed to be "Tweetie"'s husband. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Kim Yong-gyun's picture The Red Shoes is a South Korean horror opus. The story unravels in Seoul, where Sun Jae (Kim Hye Soo) discovers her husband's infidelity and leaves him, moving into an ancient, semi-dilapidated apartment house with her daughter, Tae Soo. She discovers a strange pair of red shoes on the subway and carts them home with her, sans realizing that the shoes carry a demonic curse and threaten to destroy the life of whoever holds them. As supernatural terrors hit the apartment and otherworldly visions fill Sun Jae's mind (including a dream sequence where drops of blood snow down from the sky), the shoes unleash the buried malevolent thoughts and desires from everyone surrounding Sun Jae, propelling the individuals toward horrible deaths. Sun Jae and her boyfriend Cheol (Kim Seong-Su) then attempt to determine the origin of the shoes and end the death spell - before Sun Jae's life is extinguished. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An oddball group of unlikely athletes become Korea's winning force in baseball in director Kim Hyun-seok's YMCA Yagudan (aka YMCA Baseball Team). When Ho-Chang (Song Kang-ho) loses a ball and sneaks into the yard of an American missionary in an attempt to retrieve it, he catches his first glimpse of the sport that will soon change his life and lift the spirit of his downtrodden nation. Soon learning that the lovely Jung-rim (Kim Hye-su) is currently in the process of organizing Korea's first baseball team, Ho-Chang eagerly signs-up along with best friend Kwang-tae (Hwang Jeong-min) and Dae-hyeon (Kim Ju-hyuk), who also strives for Jung-rim's affections. Despite his father's wishes that he follow a more scholarly path, Ho-Chang and his team are soon at the top of their game. As Korea begins to feel the bleak realities of the Ulsa Treaty and the team's playing grounds are usurped by Japanese soldiers, one game may prove a nation's final hope to achieve triumph in the face of adversity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The nerdy Park Young-Joon is performing at a talent show during a high school field trip to Gyeongju, where he is booed off stage and replaced by the class brawler Choi Gi-Dong. A massive fight ensues with a local gang, and Gi-Dong is admired because he leads his class in the rumble while the timid Young-Joon is ostracized because he was the only student who didn't participate. Several years later, Gi-Dong and Ju-Sup meet each other. Young-Joon has become a top gangster while Gi-Dong, who is now a teacher, tries to prevent Ju-Sup and other students from joining the mob. The two former schoolmates bond over drinks and both go to the police station when Ju-Sup and his friends are arrested for fighting. At the station, they meet Ju-Sup's beautiful big sister, Ju-Sup. Their friendship is strained as they compete for her affections; they also differ over Ju-Sup, since Gi-Dong wants to keep him away from Young-Joon, while the gangster wants to encourage the student to study. While the competition between the two rivals becomes increasingly fierce, the police are investigating Young-Joon and other mobsters who are plotting against him. Gi-Dong and Young-Joon join forces when someone kidnaps Ju-San, and eventually Gi-Dong's friends, the mob, the police, and the student body get involved. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide

South Korean-born Wonsuk Chin, a NYC resident for eight years, made his directorial debut with this hip comedy, shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. With numerous cinematic references and allusions (Bergman, Godard, Woo, Hartley), the tale begins with a black-and-white silent sequence depicting Death chasing a young man through Old Baghdad. The setting shifts to present-day New York, where a Japanese man, Kenji (Takeshi Kaneshiro of Chungking Express) is seen abed in a sparsely furnished apartment. Kinji goes to a local cafe where he chats with several others: Italian friend Fabrizio (Michael Imperioli) who proclaims, "Lubitsch is the god!"; a literary wit, Balzac Man (Jeffrey Wright); and an enigmatic German woman, Pola (Geno Lechner), who hints at a possible sexual liaison with Kinji. Death (Mira Sorvino) drifts about, assuming various forms -- disco gal, Japanese geisha, Chinese woman, devil with a red dress on, and a French-accented figure dressed as a man. The sad and lonely Death informs Kenji that she has no choice in determining her victims, and he also learns from her that he has only 12 hours left to live. She suggests that he make the most of his remaining minutes, so he sets forth on a series of brief adventures. At the cafe, he chides famous artist John Sage (Ben Gazzara) for being involved with a decades-younger girlfriend, the beautiful Korean Anouk (Hye Soo Kim). Sage invites Kenji to dinner at their home, and Death invites herself. Kenji makes the proposal that since he's due to die, he could be allowed sex with Anouk as a final act. This request isn't well received by anyone present, leaving Kenji to his own devices as the darkness closes in. Mira Sorvino wears a virtual fashion show of colorful costumes in this movie, which also provided her with the opportunity to speak Chinese onscreen for the first time. Sorvino majored in Asian studies at Harvard and lived for eight months (1988-89) in Beijing, where she studied Chinese, taught English, and viewed a variety of Chinese films. Too Tired to Die and The Replacement Killers both brought her several steps closer to her announced goal of making a film in Mandarin and working with a Chinese director. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide